Shilstone Rocks' stallions run together on hill country at Hatuma, outside of Waipukurau.
A small brown pony from the hills at the back of Waipukurau has burst through the travel bubble, jetting off to Australia carrying the valuable genetics of a rare breed.
Shilstone Rocks Sugar Rush is an 18-month-old Dartmoor pony colt, carrying some of the best Dartmoor pony genetics in the world.
He is the first Dartmoor pony imported into Australia in 17 years and the first ever exported from New Zealand.
Claire McCormick bred Sugar Rush from ponies she and her sister imported to New Zealand six years ago. The sisters have a family link to these rare ponies; their mother Elizabeth Newbolt-Young owns the original and famed Shilstone Rocks Dartmoor pony stud (est.1959) at Widecombe-in-the-moor, Dartmoor, England, and was a founding member of the Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust in 2005.
The trust works to protect the unique genetics of the Dartmoor pony breed as well as to educate people in the uses and qualities of the versatile ponies.
Claire and her four sisters grew up riding Dartmoor ponies.
"It was a rite of passage, growing up on Dartmoor, with my mother being a breeder of these ponies," she says. "We learned to ride on a Dartmoor, then as we outgrew them we transitioned to a bigger Dartmoor-cross."
While Claire herself has been in New Zealand for more than 30 years, the ponies only followed her to Waipukurau recently.
"My sister Tracey Elliot-Reep suggested we start a New Zealand branch of the Shilstone Rocks Stud, which she co-owns with me.
"We imported two in-foal mares six years ago. One of the foals they produced was Shilstone Mountain Man and he is the father of Sugar Rush.
"We now have three licensed Dartmoor pony stallions and a small herd of purebred mares. We have geldings available for sale after they are broken in and most mares, although also ridden, will be used for breeding."
Shilstone Rocks is now one of three Dartmoor pony studs in New Zealand, all of which carry the Shilstone bloodlines to some degree. Along with maintaining the quality of the ponies, Claire hopes to educate the equestrian community of the uses and versatility of the breed.
"Around the world and most especially in the UK Dartmoor ponies are much sought after. Here in New Zealand most people don't yet know what they are."
And that's a shame, Claire says.
"These ponies are curious, friendly and have a wonderful temperament. Children can handle them by themselves. They have beautiful heads, small ears and big eyes, short pasterns and 'good bone' which means they are capable of carrying small adults."
Bred to live on rocky moorland and survive in the snow, eating gorse and bracken, the ponies are tough, surefooted and also economical to feed.
"Throughout the droughts they kept their weight. They are more at risk from over-eating when the spring grass comes through."
Sugar Rush's Australian buyer Karen Parrish had wanted a Shilstone Rocks colt for 20 years, but the cost of importing one from England was prohibitive. She was delighted when the stud set up in New Zealand and her dream became achievable.
"A dream of mine for years was to own a Shilstone Rocks Dartmoor pony and now that dream has become a reality," she says.
Due to Covid travel restrictions, Karen purchased the colt sight unseen. "We trotted him up and down the tennis court and sent her a video. He had only been transported once before, to the beach for an adventure, but when it came time to leave he went straight onto the truck.
"Karen rang us when he arrived in Melbourne she was so pleased with him and so excited. She said lots of visitors were coming to see him."